Rage Rush

Most Recent Version (5/19/2019)

Jotto’s list from Masters 36:

15 Rage Shrines, 2 Valley of the Ancients

Old Version with Deck Tech

Also known as 'Crazy Rage', this deck is both cheap and easy to play, making it a great choice for any new player to gain some easy ELO. The game plan is simple, yet effective: Play cheap creatures, remove enemy blockers, then hit the face until the enemy runs out of life points. For another analysis of Rage Rush, check out Rinriet's deck analysis.

Decklist:

Our Cards:

Creatures:

Goblin Warrior: One of the simplest cards in the game. Its main purpose is to deal 2 damage per hit to the enemy hero or trade with any early blockers. Be wary of Steelhost Spearmen as they can take out a goblin for free if you attack into them. It also has the Goblin tag, meaning it can be used for swift damage in the mid to late game with Firebrand Goblin.

Lizard Barbarian: Similar to his Goblin brother this one deals 2 damage to the face (I hope you're noticing a pattern here). The 2 HP body can be useful for trades and he is harder to remove than the goblin. Generally speaking these are often your preferred turn 1 play.

Tortured Orc: The 2/3 Statline is great for a 2-Drop as by turn 2 pretty much everything is a 2/2 or worse. He is hard to remove early for most decks and the Slave tag shouldn't be a problem as he is the only Slave in the deck. He also hits the face for 2 damage (this is starting to get redundant isn't it?).

Goblin Fireworker: He's a solid 2-Drop that (wait for it) deals 2 damage to the face. In most matchups he's going to be a worse Tortured Orc on curve but you want your curve to be as reliable as possible so four 2-Drops isn't enough. He has the Goblin tag for lategame swift damage and his ability, while useless in most matchups, can be game winning against Hermelion priests (Angelic Temples can be a terror in the night for this deck). If you feel like you need more 2-Drops, add more Fireworkers.

Rakhi Berserker: Just like with the Tortured Orc, the 2/3 statline is great and the swift effect makes it even easier to deal 2 damage to the face (I think you're starting to get the point). Remember that 1 speed is all the speed you need to hit a hero. He is also great for clearing up Zombies and Militias and at 4 HP he is out of range for any cheap removal.

Gibo and Roni: They're Spellweaver's unofficial mascots and they definitely pull their weight in this deck. Anything that applies to the Goblin Warrior applies here, except you get two of them. Getting multiple bodies helps getting past blockers to deal your 2 face damage (yeah, you didn't expect me to stop did you?) and gives you double the value from massive assault. Make sure you don't overdo it with the 1 HP creatures so you don't get punished by Fireblast or Holy Radiance.

Firebrand Goblin: While he can be used to deal 2 swift damage to the face (this is the last one, I promise!) his main purpose of course is to be played together with your other Goblins for a surprising burst of damage. Also keep in mind that swift creatures can move and attack in the same turn, meaning that you can hide your creatures in the back row while building up a board. Firebrand Goblins can be somewhat clunky if you draw multiples so there is the option of cutting them down to two copies.

Flame Serpent: It does what it says on the tin: play it, run it over a blocker and do some face damage to boot. This card is your main way of finishing a game after losing board control.

Spells:

Fireball: Not much to say about this one. Use it to take out any blockers or to finish a game by throwing it into the opponents face. It's an instant, meaning that you can use it during combat and at the end of your opponents turn.

Word of Fire: It's our second removal spell and it redraws. You'll mostly use it to take out enemy 1-and 2-Drops to open the way for your creatures to hit the face. Lightning Bolt might be a budget alternative.

Massive Assault: While this card might seem a little underwhelming at first, it does effectively give you a 50% attack increase to all of those 2 attack creatures. Having 3 attack also allows you to trade with most creatures in the early to mid game. The trickiest part of playing this deck is figuring out the right moment to play Massive Assault. Just like Firebrand Goblins they can clutter up your hand but you can definitely run 4 of these as well.

Fireblast: Fireblast is just a great card and will find decent value against most decks and sometimes clears a board outright. It's an auto include in most Rage lists for good reason. If you don't have enough copies you can run Cannonade as a budget alternative.

Hero:

Basic Zash allows us to bypass blockers to inch out that little bit of additional damage. Hero Power plus Flame Serpent is often what ends the game by turn 6.

General Tips:

Don't give up until the game is over and play to your outs. You can be at 1 HP when you finally topdeck a double Fireball to win the game. One of the reasons why this deck is so scary even for veteran players is because of it's ability to conjure up lethal damage from absolutely no board presence.

Try to play your Massive Assaults when you have multiple creatures on the board to benefit from the buff right away

Don't feel bad about mulliganing a mediocre hand. If you don't win early you probably won't win at all.

Matchups:

Aggro: This one often comes down to who takes board control first. Using your Rakhi Berserkers and Fireblasts well is often key in aggro matchups.

Midrange: While these tend to be your worst matchups, they're definitely not unbeatable. Dwarven Mortars and Angelic Temples need to be dealt with ASAP.

Control: This is where Rage Rush really shines. You need to kill them fast, fast, fast, nothing else matters.

Why you want to play Rage Rush:

This deck, or some variation of it has been a staple of the meta for about 1.5 years now and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. It is also a great ladder deck due to it's short average game time, allowing you to play more games in your time and it doesn't burn (hehe) too deep into your pockets while you're saving up for a more expensive deck.